Frame for furniture or the like



A ril 24, 1945. c. DEWEY 2,374,180

FRAME FOB FURNITURE OR THE LIKE Filed May 27, 1945 2 Sheet-Sheet 1 April 24, 1945. I c. L. DEWEY 2,374,180

- FRAME FOR FURNITURE OR THE LIKE Filed May 27, 1943 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 3 96 f 1 W. J3 """Wh- Patented Apr. 24, 1945 FRAME'FDRFURNITURE R rename Clarence LfDewey, Elkhartgfilnd. I Application May 7, 1943, swan-no. 488,646

ysoiaims. I (01. 1515 4) Thi-s' invention is direoted to a. frame for metallicfurniture-or similar structures, supported upon legs which must be rigidlyconnected with upper sills which afiord-support-for the seat-of a chair,

stoo'l, pouch, or the like, or for a table top or stand with which the legs are associated and to which they must be firmly and rigidly secured in such 'a way 'as to avoid "the necessity for extraneous'bracing. v

The invention. is primarily directed to iurniture construction in which it is desirable to combine beauty-of design with rigidity and lightness, so that the resulting structure 'such 'as a 'chair,

and rear 11egsi21 are employed, :the .rear :legs being extended upwardly :to provide standards 22 for the support ofca'zbaok conventionally :indicated by dotted "lines. The front :legs as shown extend gverticlally' while the lower portions of the back legs extend obliquelyaup -.to the :medial :averticalse-ctionzfl iabovewhieh thettstandards [22 ex"- tend obliquely :badkwardly to conform to acustommy practice. The upper end sections|25 zof each couch, table *orthe like will present an, attractive and -distinctive appearance and so that the mechanica'l agencies employed insecuring the sections together will *be concealed from view The present invention conforms fully to the above requirements and although for purposes of illustration '1 shall refer "to the structure of a Fig. 5 is a sectional detail showing the method,-

of securing .a chair seat to the frame sills;

frame sills;

Fig. "7 is a composite view showing the inner and outer faces of one of the frame sills and a cross section of thesame; I

Figs.:8 to 12,inclusive are views illustrating the progressive forms assumed by a section of metallic tubing up to its Jfinal completion as a chair leg and back standard; and p fFig. 13"is a plan view showingarcua-te sills.

"The basic feature of the present invention resides the formation of the legs and frame or top structure in such a way that the two may be secured together hyafirm and rigid union whether the top structure be-in the form of a seat frame,

Fig. '6 is a sectional elevation of one of the tabletop, or the like and whether the elements which unit with the legs constitute portions of the sills o'f 'a frame which carries a seat or the like, or whether-ltheylare united with the'bottom of a table "top :or platform.

As shown in the case of a chair, front legs 20 55 of the :front :legs; andzthe miedialisection .oi'ieach rearxleg are -:of uniform crossrsection andof :max-

'imum dimensions below which in teach-casesthe legjisitapered downwardly toaminimum diameter at the'ifootlfi. The across sectional configuration of eachlof thel legs at'the plane ofimaximum diam-- eterpis best illustrated insFig. 3. It will'be noted that ".the :leg :in section is of :a ;5four-.-.lobed fluted formation. affording ridges 2s! (and mtervening grooves 28 which continue throughout the :maj or portion of :the :leg toa rpoint .gclosely adjacent the foot l at which :pointvthe :grooving terminates .:in a

circul ar,-:-conf1guration at {the :foot \whi'ch rounds inwardly to a flat lb-ase v2i! .as shown 'in Fig. (-12;

The legs stand at the four corners of theehair with their opposed "ridges disposed diagonally inwardlyand-wit-h the adj-acent groovesofeach leg- 1 presenting their divergent walls at right *angleslto one :another, each ridge being formed mrithipara'llelrside walls 30 and-:an-outer facewallfllfwhich latter maintains:theoriginal curvature of the tubing from which :the leg-was formed; "Thesadjaoent ridge walls wdiverge tat "-9.09, thus forming, a V-shaped groove.

Inpthe case' of the .chai-rhereshown the'rre'ar' uppemstandards' itaper from the;medial1section to thetiprend ,32 WhiCh3i'SlIdOIhB-5Sh8108d 'as shown in Fig. l1;- 0f;:course, in the .caseio'f a-'table,stool, stand :orthe like the upper standards would .be omitted. 1', .w I

The tour legs are connected by straight anelled sills 3-3 :or .arcuate rsill's 33a (Fig. 213) which are united ;to the .legs' in the manner -shown in with'right angularly disposed inwardly extending flanges 36 giving a. channelformationto the sill,

nd the ends of the body and rib are deflected inwardly along af-loend. at an angle of to present a smooth, obliquefac e '3], "the rim of which i is afforded by a narrow lip 38, the ends39 of the flanges being clipped to form two end edges making a right angle adjacent the face 31.

Since certain of the ridges protrude diagonally with relation to the sills, the ends of the sills thus formed will fit snugly into the grooves 28 with the fiat-faced ends 31, 3B in face contact with the opposed side walls of the ridges 21, and with the clipped ends 39 in close edge contact with the adjacent ridge walls; and in view of the fact that the ill is comparatively wide in a vertical direction, an extended face and edge area of contact is afforded, and the leg will be rigidly socketed between the ends of adjacent sills. An integral union between the sills and the legs is provided by lines of welding 40 which fill into the base of the grooves and along the lips 38 so that an integral bond of fused metal is afforded.

In some cases spot welding or brazing or soldering may be employed, but in all cases the joint will be hidden or concealed from the exterior so that, as viewed from the outside, the union will present the appearance of a close joint or seam along the edge of the ridge with the sill rib tanding outwardly therefrom to a slight degree,. thereby giving the effect of skillful designing and fine craftsmanship in the joining of the parts while at the same time affording -a high degree of strength, rigidity, and durability to the entire structure.

If the frame thus provided is intended to support a chair seat or the like, the same can be fitted and secured in the manner shown in Fig. 5.

The seat there shown comprises a rectangular base 4| of plywood or the like the margins of which overlap the upper flanges 36 of the sills to which the base is locked by the heads of screws 42 which overlap the edges of the flanges, and the seat base is covered by a, pad 43 or finished in any other suitable manner. If the structure is to serve as a stand or table or the like, in a similar manner, a platform or other form of fitting or appliance may be substituted for the base shown and be secured to the frame sill in any suitable manner.

In order to explain more in detail the nature of the leg formation, reference is had to Figs. 8-12. Fig. 8 shows a section of uniform cylindrical tubing which is first reduced bytapering one or both ends to the form shown in Fig. 9 leaving the middle portion of full diameter. The tapered tube is next drawn through dies or rolls to) produce the fluting or grooving shown in Fig.

The bases of the grooves maintain a uniform distance from the'axis of the tube at all points while the height of the ridges increases with the distance from the end of the tube, and remains uniform throughout the medial section of one of the back legs of a chair which would, of course, constitute the upper section of a front leg, In the case of a back leg the tube would be closed at each end as shown in Figs. 11 and 12, while in the case of a front leg the foot end only would be closed as in Fig. 12, while the upper endof full diameter would remain open to afford flush butt contact with the seat base or the like.

Metal legs formed in the manner shown can be produced from an extended length of tubing tapered recurrently to the required extent and afterwards cut into unitsections of the required length and the grooving can be applied to anextended length of recurrently tapered tubing The invention is thus one which enables the various portions of the chair or other structure to be fabricated by mass production methods and in form to be speedily assembled and united with a minimum of time, effort, and expense. At the same time the resulting article of furniture or the like will present the appea-rance'of fine craftsmanship and may be painted, grained, polished or otherwise finished in such a way which will conform to exacting artistic standards.

I claim: I

1. In a metallic frame of the character described, the combination of a metallic horizontal sill having an end deflected inwardly to provide a substantially flat attaching face angularly disposed with relation to the vertical plane of the body and a substantially vertical metallic leg having formed therein a longitudinally extending groove affording diverging side walls, at least one of which presents its face in parallel abutting relation to the end face of the sill and in angular relation to the vertical body plane of the sill, and means for uniting said abutting faces together.

2. In a metallic frame of the character described, the combination of a metallic horizontal sill having a portion of its body offset to stiffen the sill and provide a panel and having an end deflected inwardly to provide a substantially flat attaching face angularly disposed with relation to the vertical plane of the body and a substantially vertical metallic leg having formed therein a longitudinally extending groove affording diverging side walls, at least one of which presents its face in parallel abutting relation to the end face of the sill and in angular relation to the vertical body plane of the sill, and means for uniting said abutting faces together, said means being in the form of a welding line within the base of the groove and overlapping the end margin of the attaching end face of the sill.

3. In a metallic frame of the character described, the combination of a metallic horizontal sill having a portion of its body offset to stiffen the sill and provide a panel and having an end deflected inwardly to provide a substantially flat attaching face angularly disposed with relation to the vertical plane of the body and a substantially vertical metallic leg having formed therein a longitudinally extending groove affording diverging side walls, at least one of which presents its face in parallel abutting relation to the end face of the sill and in angular relation to the vertical body plane of the sill, and means for uniting said abutting faces together.

4. In a metallic frame of the character de scribed, the combination of two metallic horizontal sills at an angle to one another each having an end deflected inwardly to provide an attaching face angularly disposed with relation to the vertical plane of the body, and a substantially vertical metallic leg having formed therein at least two spaced, longitudinally extending grooves separated by an intervening ridge, the side walls of which are afforded by the adjacent inner walls of the grooves, the outer groove walls presenting their faces in parallel abutting relation to the end faces of the opposed sills and in angular relation to the vertical body planes of the respective sills, and means for uniting said respective abutting faces together.

5. In a metallic frame of the character described, the combination of two metallic horizontal sills at an angle to one another'each having a portion of its body offset to stiffen the sill and provide a panel and each having an end deflected inwardly to provide an attaching face faces of the opposed sills and in angular rela tion to the vertical body planes of the respe'ctive sills, and means for uniting said respective abutting faces together, said means being in each case in the form of a welding line within the base of the groove and overlapping the end margin of the end face of the associated sill.

l CLARENCE L. DEWEY. 

